Joseph a



mam) J A BNO Trunk Caster,

No. 242,522. Patented June 7,1881.

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- UNITED STATES ATENT FFICE.

JOSEPH A. END, OF NEYVARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF T0 ALEXANDER MOKIRGAN, OF SAME PLACE.

TRUNK-CASTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,522, dated June 7, 1881.

Application filed June 7, 1880.

(Model To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OSEPII A. ENo, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunk-Casters, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is the production ofa trunk-caster which shall be cheap of construction and so formed as to be protected against danger of breakage from violent handling of the trunk to which it is attached, and at the same time be capable of revolving in such a manner that it shall readily accommodate itself to anydireetion of movement of the trunk easily and without undue friction of the parts; and to these ends my invention consists of a centrally-pivoted circular plate or disk constructed or formed with bearing points or projections upon one side, and an open cutaway place or slot in the periphery thereof, in the sides of which slot or cut-away place the caster wheel or roller takes its bearings, the said disk and caster wheel or roller to be secured so as to be capable of revolution within a shell or housing wholly or partially surrounding the same; and in the disk and the casterwheel constructed and united as just described,

with a shell or housing formed with a boss or hub depending from its center, upon the end of which the disk is pivoted, the boss or hub.

being of such length that the bearing of the disk at the'center and the bearings of the easter-wheel shall be on about the same horizontal plane when in position, whereby lateral tipping of the plate in turning under weight is obviated, and the slot being so made relatively to some two of the bearing points or projections that a projection shall come at each end of the caster-wheel and immediately over each bearing of the said caster-wheel, whereby vertical leverage of the bearings of the caster on the central bearing of the disk and upon the disk itself is obviated.

That others skilled in the art may be able to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view, Fig.2 a side view, Fig. 3 a longitudinal sectional view, of the easter, and Fig. 4 a plan view of the revolving disk removed from the housing.

The shell or housing A is cast in the form shown, and with the extensions a a, through which bolts or screws pass to secure the easter in a suitable depression in the bottom of a trunk, and also with the central depending boss or hub, 13, to which the disk 0 is secured by the bolt I), and upon which it revolves. The disk (3 may be circular in form, as shown, and has formed upon one side of it the bearing points or projections e, and has also formed on it the perforated lugs (I, the latter forming the bearings for the caster wheel or roller D, which is placed in the open slot or cut-away place E of the disk. This slot is made in the disk in relation to the bearing points or projections, so as to form the bearing-points c 0, one at each end of the caster-wheel, and immediately over each bearing of said wheel, thus dcstroyin gall leverage of the easterwheel upon the disk and its central bearin g.

Thc disk and caster-wheel thus formed and united together are placed in the shell and the disk secured to the. hub or boss, as shown. The bearing of the disk and the bearings of the caster-wheel are upon the same plane, thus destroying all lateralleverage of the caster-wheel upon the disk and causing the force which turns the disk to fall directly in its plane of revolution, thus preventing cantin g of the disk and undue friction.

The disk, although shown to be circular in form, may be of any other shape and not depart from the spirit of my invention, and the shell or housing, shown to only partially surround the disk, may be made to wholly surround it, if desired, and the shell or housing should be of such a depth relative to the size of the caster wheel or roller and the thickness of the disk and the length of the boss or hub that a due portion of the wheel shall come below the shell to support and clear the trunk.

I am aware that casters having a revolving cone-shaped (truncated) plate journalcd in a housing, the plate having a diametrical slot in its under side, into which the upper part of the wheel projects, the bearings ol' the wheel be ing below the central bearing of the plate and below a point about midway between the central bearing of the plate and anti-friction bearin gs at the ed ge thereof, are common, and hence do not claim the same; but

What I do claim is 1. The caster herein described, having the bearin gs of the caster-wheel immediately under the bearing-points c 0, upon which the weight rests, and on the same horizontal plane with the central beari n g of the remlving disk, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The revolving disk formed with the bearing-points c, c, and 0, upon one side, and with the slot or cut-away place E in its edge, and the caster-wheel journaled therein im mediately beneath the points 0 c, in combination with the housing formed with the depending boss, thejournals of the wheel being on the same horizontal plane with the centralibearing of the revolving disk, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

JOSEPH A. ENO. Witnesses:

Gno. M. TrrUs, G120. F. WooDALL. 

